When Nick Rolovich decided to leave the University of Hawaii for the much more lucrative head football coaching job at Washington State last month he was on a plane to his new office within hours.
Likewise for the group of seven assistant coaches and two other staffers who eventually followed him to Pullman, Wash.
But if any of their undergraduate Rainbow Warrior players had wanted to transfer to greener pastures anywhere among the 129 other Football Bowl Subdivision schools, they would have had to either sit out a year or go through the laborious process of demonstrating “extenuating” or “extraordinary” circumstances to the NCAA’s satisfaction.
That inequality between coach and player movement has long needed to be addressed and change could come as soon as the 2020-21 school year under legislation announced Tuesday that is scheduled to go before the NCAA’s Division I Council in April.
Currently, athletes in most sports may transfer with immediate eligibility. But those who participate in football, baseball, women’s and men’s basketball and men’s ice hockey must sit out a year before being eligible or secure a waiver from the NCAA.
The difference there being that the athletes currently restricted participate in what, at some schools, are considered revenue sports and the NCAA membership has been loathe to lose that investment.
But as the push for athletes rights has gained momentum and the bureaucracy has been choked with transfer applicants, the NCAA has come to acknowledge a need for change.
“The current system is unsustainable,” said Jon Steinbrecher, chairman of the NCAA transfer working group and commissioner of the Mid-American Conference, in a statement. “(We) believe it is time to bring our transfer rules more in line with today’s college landscape.”
Not to mention that elite teams in Power 5 conferences no doubt see an opportunity to attract some top players from the mid- and low-major ranks to bolster their rosters. The tradeoff would be that athletes at Power 5 schools who aren’t getting the playing time they want could transfer to schools where they would be candidates for more opportunities.
“We know that challenges will exist with this concept, particularly as it relates to other coaches potentially tampering with currently enrolled (players),” Steinbrecher said. “The working group will continue to examine this, as well as any potential financial aid and academic impact, so the Council can make a fully informed decision.”
Steinbrecher said, “More than a third of all college students transfer at least once and the Division I rule prohibiting immediate competition for students who play (the) five sports hasn’t discouraged them from transferring.”
Under the proposal being advanced to the Division I council, athletes in all sports would be able to transfer with immediate eligibility as first-time transfers provided they leave under no disciplinary suspension, depart their previous school academically eligible, maintain academic progress at their new school and receive a transfer release from the school they are leaving.
The current waiver process would remain in place for athletes who have previously transferred or who do not otherwise qualify under the one-time waiver guidelines, the NCAA said.
There are, to be sure, issues of potential poaching to be worked out, but finally there is a step toward more equality for the athletes.
Reach Ferd Lewis at flewis@staradvertiser.com or 529-4820.
